Legends in China say the life span of cranes can be thousands of years and the birds bring longevity and blessings to those who are around them. Yingzhong, a small rural village in Yunan Province, is such a place blessed with thousands of auspicious cranes.

Twenty years ago, a small flock of cranes migrated to Yingzhong, which they turned into a safe haven and a small crane kingdom. According to villagers, 4,000 cranes now live there year around, and in the summer and fall, the population reaches to more than 10,000 as others migrating to-and-fro make it a rest stop. In the middle of the village sits a bamboo grove where cranes build nests and sing at dawn as villagers wake for farming.

The residents consider the birds a part of their life and have spared no effort to protect them, including stopping outsiders from shooting them.

There are also many long-lived people in Yingzhong. Whether there is any connection between the cranes and their longevity, people can’t say, but last year a 90-year-old man died, after which a group of cranes that had lived there for years flew away. Villagers mourned his death and the cranes’ leaving, but four months later the birds returned, bringing with them both a sense of closure and eternal continuity in the unique crane kingdom.

Guizhou City News